Chapter 212 (continued)

Chu Yanhuan ran after them for a while, but quickly lost patience.

Qing Mengzhu then asked Ming Chunxi to escort him down the mountain. Chu Yanhuan was a little embarrassed, but he still decided to go down the mountain to the city for a stroll, as he really had no interest in planting.

After seeing Chu Yanhuan off, Ming Chunxi went up the mountain again to continue cutting bean stalks with Qing Mengzhu.

Qing Mengzhu estimated that the beans planted on the mountain covered an area of only two and a half acres, and could be harvested in one or two days.

We'll have someone carry the bundled bean stalks down the mountain, and then manually knock the beans out. We should be able to harvest about 700 to 800 jin (350-400 kg). If the beans are planted sparsely and harvested late, the yield per mu (0.067 hectares) will definitely not be as high as that in the field.

However, these beans, which mature directly on the stalks, seem to have absorbed plenty of sunlight, making them heavy, golden, and fragrant, so even with a lower yield, it's still worthwhile.

After the bean stalks were almost all cut, Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi went down to the cowshed to check on the cow dung.

When Qing Mengzhu came to look at the cow dung this time, she took out her phone and specifically used the Mall Assistant to scan it.

The scan results came back quickly, Qing Mengzhu showed them to Ming Chunxi: "Our intuition was right; the quality of the cow dung has improved."

After examining it carefully, Ming Chunxi asked, "Buy new fertilizer fermentation powder?"

Qing Mengzhu nodded and showed Ming Chunxi a fertilizer fermentation powder she had previously collected. "I want to buy this. It costs 18,000 Star Coins per serving and can ferment 'Superior Grade' grade fertilizer."

Ming Chunxi: "Buy."

Qing Mengzhu: "Then let's not transport this cow dung down there. Let it ferment directly in the bamboo forest. Let's clear a piece of land over there."

Ming Chunxi: "Besides cow dung, do we need to buy any other fermentation materials?"

Qing Mengzhu: "As for the Spirit Pearl Dregs, we can get everything else. For example, we can burn 'Superior Grade' wood ash directly with bamboo leaves, and we can use rice straw instead of weeds. It also requires other manure, which we can use hazelnut manure."

Ming Chunxi took the phone and glanced at it. "It will take three months to fully ferment, that's a bit long."

Qing Mengzhu: "Yes, but we've been raising cattle, so we have cow dung every day. We can collect this dung, mix it with other materials each month, and build a manure pile. Starting from the fourth month, we can use a pile of manure every month, so it doesn't matter how long the fermentation time is."

Ming Chunxi: "That makes sense."

Fertilizer is an important part of planting activities.

Qing Mengzhu has always valued fertilizer, and this time was no exception. He shared some of the harvested beans with Zhou Yan and then devoted himself to studying his fertilizer.

The Interstellar Mall already had a lot of fertilizer fermentation powder, and after becoming an intermediate member, he unlocked even more fertilizer fermentation powder.

He chose the one that cost 18,000 Star Coins, but the Interstellar Mall quickly recommended other fertilizer fermentation powders to him.

There's a fertilizer fermentation powder that costs 7,000 Star Coins per serving, which is also quite good. This fertilizer fermentation powder doesn't require as much hay and wood ash, but it does require meat or fish.

The cost of buying fish is much lower than the cost of producing hay and wood ash, and using a variety of fertilizers in combination is also beneficial for planting.

So, Qing Mengzhu bought the fertilizer fermentation powder worth seven thousand Star Coins, and also bought a large number of fish, transporting them all to the mountain to prepare for fermentation.

Qing Mengzhu was busy with fertilizer matters and didn't have much time to do anything else for the time being.

Zhao Hexi and the others helped with other tasks, trying their best not to be disturbed.

Gradually, the people at the company and the farm learned that Qing Mengzhu was busy researching cow dung, so they stopped calling him.

It's the end of October, and the weather is getting colder. When I woke up in the morning, the dew on the ground had already turned into frost.

With the weather getting colder, the summer crops in the fields have been mostly harvested, and now it's busy planting autumn and winter crops. Autumn radishes, okra, cabbage, pumpkins, carrots, and other vegetables are gradually hitting the market, and customers are quite satisfied with the autumn vegetables.

Besides vegetables, autumn fruits are also gradually changing, and now it's transitioning from oranges to strawberries.

Their strawberry season is very long, lasting from November to June of the following year.

There aren't many strawberries in the fields yet, but they're big and red, and the rich strawberry aroma is even more enticing than last year's. It's foreseeable that when the strawberries are finally on the market, they will definitely cause a new wave of excitement.

Some crops in the field grew very well, while others did not.

For example, things didn't go so well with the chili peppers.

The chili peppers were growing very well before; the trees were laden with thick, long, red, and shiny peppers, and we could harvest a lot every month.

In addition to the company's employees picking chili peppers every three days, Qing Mengzhu sometimes picks them again every three days, specifically to sell to the Interstellar Mall.

This batch of chili peppers was planted once but harvested for two years, bringing them substantial income and building a reputation for their brand.

Everyone valued this batch of chili peppers highly, so any problems were discovered immediately.

Zhao Hexi said to Qing Mengzhu, "We're still managing it the same way as before, and the fertilizer and water haven't changed either. I don't know what's going on, but over the past month, more and more chili peppers in the field are dying. The leaves turn yellow first, then the peppers fall off, the branches wither, and finally the whole plant dies."

Qing Mengzhu squatted down and carefully examined the chili pepper plant.

Zhao Hexi, supporting himself on his knees, asked, "So, have you found the cause? Is it some kind of virus infection?"

Qing Mengzhu shook her head. "No."

Zhao Hexi: "So there are insects? Our insect traps are still hanging nearby, and we've also released parasitic wasps that specifically target pests, but we haven't noticed a sudden increase in any type of pest."

Qing Mengzhu: "It's not about pests."

Zhao Hexi: "What is that? Could it be some kind of unknown illness?"

At this point, Zhao Hexi's heart sank. If an unknown vegetable virus were to break out, their losses would be devastating.

Qing Mengzhu: "No, it's just normal aging and death."

Zhao Hexi: "Wait, didn't the research last year say that chili peppers are perennial crops, with an expected lifespan of three to five years?"

Qing Mengzhu: "They produced too many chili peppers, which may have depleted their vitality, so they're not doing well now."

Zhao Hexi: "Then what should we do?"

Qing Mengzhu sighed, "Let's harvest this batch of chilies, pull up the seedlings, and replant next spring. I see the tomatoes next door aren't doing too well either; let's harvest those in November and replant them next spring."

The chili and tomato fields belong to Qing Mengzhu's family, not the company.

Looking at the chili pepper plant laden with fruit, Zhao Hexi said with great heartache, "They were bearing such good fruit, what a pity."

Qing Mengzhu patted him on the shoulder. "It's no pity, we'll plant even better chili and tomato seedlings next year."

The chili and tomato seedlings at Qing Mengzhu's house were planted quite early, especially the chili seedlings, which were "Tengjin 01" variety, graded "Fine Grade," when he first returned last year. These were the best chili seedlings he could get at the time.

After more than a year of hard work, he successfully upgraded his "Fine Grade- " "Tengjin 01" to "Fine Grade+", but due to the plant's limitations, he was unable to upgrade it to a higher grade.

This year, he harvested this batch of chili seedlings and replanted them, using "Fine Grade+" seeds, which are two grades higher. With his current abilities and resources, he is confident that he can raise the quality of the chilies by a whole grade, directly to "Superior Grade- ", or even "Superior Grade".

So there's nothing to regret; they will move forward.

Qing Mengzhu's emotions were stable, and Zhao Hexi was no longer worried.

He asked Qing Mengzhu, "After the chili peppers and tomatoes are harvested, will we need to rotate them so that other crops can be planted here next year?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Yes, next year we'll connect these plots of land and plant Rice directly on them."

Zhao Hexi: "Plant ten mu of Rice? Do you also need to raise shrimp in the rice paddies?"

Qing Mengzhu shook her head. "We're already quite profitable just growing Rice; there's no need for other Rice farming."

Zhao Hexi: "So, you're planning to do precision farming, just like the experts have suggested?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Yes, let's give it a try and see what kind of results I can achieve by cultivating Rice to its fullest potential."